MLB | Postseason baseball: Ironmen in the rotation

Saturday

Oct 6, 2012 at 12:01 AMOct 6, 2012 at 10:00 AM

CINCINNATI - At first glance, the statistic doesn't seem possible, especially given the recent history of the Cincinnati Reds. Yet there it is in black and white: A franchise that averaged 11½ starting pitchers over each of the previous 15 seasons reached the 2012 postseason with six names attached to the beginnings of 162 games.

Jim Massie, The Columbus Dispatch

CINCINNATI - At first glance, the statistic doesn't seem possible, especially given the recent history of the Cincinnati Reds.

Yet there it is in black and white: A franchise that averaged 11½ starting pitchers over each of the previous 15 seasons reached the 2012 postseason with six names attached to the beginnings of 162 games.

Five of those - Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey and Mike Leake - combined to start 161 times. Todd Redmond broke in once when he started the second game of a doubleheader on Aug. 18.

Only three Reds teams previously had used as few as six starting pitchers in a season. The last time occurred in 1951. Reasons for attrition go beyond the elbow and shoulder injuries associated with the unnatural motion of throwing a baseball.

"There are so many different things that can set a starting pitcher back, not just an arm injury," pitching coach Bryan Price said. "It could be a stiff back or a hamstring issue.

"In the National League, (pitchers are) batting. You're running the bases. You're a lot more active. A hit by pitch in the hand … I mean, any number of things can happen to make a pitcher lose a spot in the rotation or have to be skipped. We've avoided that to this point."

Ineffectiveness, of course, has scuttled many a pitcher. Arroyo arrived in 2006 in a trade with the Boston Red Sox and shared the rotation with 11 other Reds pitchers.

"That was a terrible year," he said. "It was me and (Aaron) Harang and a bunch of misfits."

Six years later, Arroyo is keeping better company. Cueto, a National League Cy Young Award candidate, is starting the opener of a divisional series against San Francisco tonight.

Arroyo and Latos are following him in the best-of-five playoff rotation, with Bailey, a recent author of a no-hitter, starting a tentative fourth game. The durability and the success are not a coincidence.

"It speaks to the five guys and their ability to stay healthy and be efficient to where they maintain their position in the rotation," Price said. "It's a huge credit to them."

The stars occasionally align for an ironmen staff to take shape.

"I had it one year in Seattle in '03," Price said. "We used the same five starters. Nobody else started a game. I think it was the first team since the 1966 Dodgers who had done that. Nobody was really aware of it until people started talking about it in the media."

Those Dodgers navigated during the era of the four-man rotation, with reliever Joe Moeller picking up eight starts to give Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton and Claude Osteen the occasional break.

Earlier in his career, Arroyo had a similar experience, with Boston in 2004.

"We used six guys, for the most part," he said. "They gave Byung-Hyun Kim a few of my starts. Then they put me back in the rotation. But we pretty much ran the whole season with the same five guys, and we won the World Series that year."

Arroyo loves the continuity and the possibilities.

"It obviously matters how good the guys are in the rotation, and everybody has been pretty (darn) good this year," he said. "Just to run the same guys out there every time and make the other team know that they are going to have to fight that day is important. It's not going to be some unknown guy from triple-A."

Last season, Bailey and Cueto spent time on the disabled list because of arm trouble. Bailey's shoulder issues dated to the 2010 season.

"What Homer did was sink his teeth into an offseason strength program," Price said. "He has maintained it during the year. He was probably one start away from being the pitcher of the month in July."

By seizing the rotation spot, Bailey allowed the Reds to move left-hander Aroldis Chapman into the closer's role after Ryan Madsen was lost in spring training to an elbow injury.

"We haven't had a lot of depth that could replace any of these five guys," Price said. "And they're young guys. They're competitive guys. And they're hungry to get better. That's a great combination."

An offseason trade acquisition from San Diego, Latos has fit in nicely.

"The biggest part to doing what we've done this year is really finding ways to stay healthy," Arroyo said. "That comes from building a program and understanding that this game is a grind. I didn't know what kind of a guy Latos was, but he has had some lingering things all year and he has found a way to get out there and pitch."

The trickle-down effect shows in the Reds bullpen, which leads the major leagues with a 2.66 ERA and 56 saves.

"They pitch deep into most games," reliever Sean Marshall said of the starters, "so we're able to prepare for our roles. My role is a setup role in the seventh and eighth innings, so I'm able to prepare knowing when I'm coming in.

"If they get to the seventh or eighth inning, I might not even warm up. It's been a blessing to the bullpen that those guys have been so durable and effective."

jmassie@dispatch.com

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